I’ve been energrized! A wave of blog posts has bubbled up in me, so get ready…

As is customary for the start of the school year, Aaron Brown from Fahlgren Mortine came and spoke at our PRSSA meeting today. He brought his A-game again and really challenged me to think about what it is that I do as a PR practitioner.

I started going down the list:

– Cultivate Relationships

– Follow Market Trends

– Communicate Key Messages

The list could go on and on. However, the more I looked at it, the more I began to think that public relations is more than just strategies; we do something larger. What I propose good PR Practitioners/CIO (Chief Integration Officers as Aaron Brown puts it) do is create value for their brand/product.

Let’s think about this for a second. What is the intrinsic value of a Big Mac or a Data Cooling Center or a politician’s credentials? I’d say they have no value at all. However, when people are made aware of them, they can then be given a price tag, earn a reputation or grow exponentially.

Here’s another way to look at it:

Say I go into my room and find the cure for the common cold. I find a way to mass produce it and keep the price down so no one will ever have to be sidelined from the sniffles again. However, I decide to never take it out of my room or tell anyone my secret. What I did in that room becomes completely worthless.

But if I decide to share my work with the world, instantly the cure can be given a value – and not just a price tag, but something worth time, energy, conversation etc.